We are going to challenge two well-known healthy eating “rules” by turning them upside down.
Rule #1: You MUST eat breakfast first thing in the morning.
“Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, dinner as a pauper.”
Studies show that people who eat earlier in their day are more likely to lose weight than those who eat later or skip meals.
Rule #2: You should eat lots of small meals to lose weight. You should eat 6 small meals per day to ensure your metabolism is working at its maximum potential all day.
What if science and research showed that SKIPPING BREAKFAST is a horror? blasphemy!) can aid in optimum human performance, mental, and physical health improvement, and maximum muscle retention and body fat loss
Intermittent fasting does not refer to a diet. It is a Dieting Pattern.
Intermittent fasting is a method of eating food only for a set time and not eating again.
Fasting for 16 hours and then eating only within an 8-hour time frame. You could eat only from noon to 8 PM and skip breakfast.
Some people eat only for a 6-hour or 4-hour period. This is Intermittent Fasting, which is a combination of “feasting” or “fasting” portions of your day. This is also my preferred method for four years.
Two examples: Top means you skip breakfast and bottom means that you skip dinner every day.
This window can be adjusted to suit your life:
- Stop eating after7AM and fast at 3 pm.
- Stop eating after11AM and fast at 7 pm.
- Stop eating after2PM and fast at 10 pm.
- Stop eating after6PM and fast at 2 am.
You can skip two meals one night, and you won’t eat again until the next day at 8 pm.
This plan allows you to eat 3 meals per day and occasionally skip breakfast or lunch.
It’s fine if you are unable to do a fast for 18 hours, 20 hours, or 22 hours. You can experiment with different time periods to see how your body reacts.
Two examples are skipping breakfast and lunch on one day and skipping lunch on the other. Then, there is where you skip dinner and lunch on two days.
These are the most popular intermittent fasting plans. We’ll be focusing our attention on them. However, there are many other variations that you can do.
- Some people eat within a 4-hour window while others eat 6-8 hours.
- People may fast for 20 hours or 24 hours.
- Another strategy is to only eat one meal per day (OMAD).
It’s important to try new things, adapt to your goals and lifestyle, and then see how your body reacts.
What is Intermittent Fasting?
You might think: “Okay, so I will skip a meal and eat less than what I usually eat (2 meals instead 3), and I will lose weight?”
Yes.
You can reduce the calories you eat each week by skipping a whole meal. Even if your meals are slightly larger than usual, it will still result in a lower total daily calorie intake. Overall, you’re still consuming fewer calories per day.
This post was written by Darryl Johnson, Co-Owner of Apex performance. At Apex performance we are a community of highly trained experts looking to provide performance enhancement and a permanent lifestyle change for our clients in a fun and interactive environment. Members can take advantage of one of the best gyms in Tampa, small group classes, and specialized courses for a wide variety of athletics, sports training, and body goals!